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2014 Minimates "State of the Union"


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Maybe it's just me but this year feels like there hasn't been much released and we are doing a lot of waiting.

I don't know the numbers comparing amount of minimates from this year to last, but it just seems there is a lot of time between releases. Maybe it's the lack of TRU minimates that gives me this feeling.

New retailers and new licenses are always good. Being more available and a diverse selection is always good for longevity and sales.

Blind bags don't bother me since I collect Lego and Kre-o as well. Doubles/Triples are to be expected.

Marvel is still my favorite line, but I want some new characters. Less releases and lack of character variety is making it a dull year for marvel.

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Licenses: None of the licenses introduced this year really have me excited. If anything I'm more concerned about how existing or previously announced licenses are being handled or sidelined entirely. (Alien and Star Trek, I'm looking at you.) I could understand if DST seemed to be moving on to the next hottest thing but properties like Zenescope and Mass Effect seem to be the next cheapest thing in terms of royalties and guarantees. I find DST's lack of faith in their more venerable properties perplexing.

The Zenescope thing I get, it's not exactly setting the stands on fire but Mass Effect? You may not like the license (each to his own) but to say that it's the next cheapest thing, well…

By "cheap" I mean affordable, as in it's a property that might not command the same royalty or annual guaranty as Marvel or Alien. It's the kind of property that might give DST a higher profit margin because fewer bucks go back to the licensor.

Hey, if it gets Minimates into GameStop stores, I'm all for it. My point was that DST too often seems like they're only taking advantage of the tip of the iceberg and then move onto something else.

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Retailers: No Minimates planned for Walmart. And we're working on something with AFX.

I was at Five Below last week and they had every blind bag known (and some not known) to man there. Tons of the LEGO Simpsons series, Megabloks, many more I couldn't even begin to remember. It was a whole end cap full.

Even the Brickwarrior not-blind bag LEGO accessory packs, which have the coolest LEGO related stuff I've seen recently. they are in a blind bag style packaging, but with one side clear. I'd never heard of them before then.

All that to say, their non-blind bags drew me in there enough to spend $30 on them. Maybe that's a place DST should explore too for minimates.

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I think a big difference is that Marvel has ALWAYS been the anchor, and it doesn't quite feel that way any more. I was trying to remember last night when the last Marvel comics-based wave came out, and looking at the release dates on the Database (hail Ivan), we've had one this year (54, in Feb.), and the last ones before that were 50 &51 late last summer. That's pretty crazy. TRU, the last wave was the infamous instant clearance wave 18 in January, and there's nothing on the horizon right now. So, while I don't think the number of 'mates released in a year has gone down, it has diversified, which isn't a bad thing necessarily. But I think most of us are, primarily, comics and superhero fans, and when you're not getting that itch scratched it seems like something is lacking.

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New Retailers: Sears/K-Mart is a single entity instead of separate retailers.

I always thought when the one bought the other they should have re-branded themselves as S-Mart.

"Shop smart. Shop S-Mart."

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Seems like we've had lots of Marvel movie stuff in lieu of the comics recently. And with more and more films in the pipeline now, I wonder if that is indicative of what the future holds? I hope not. I'm just not that into the comic movie Minimates personally. I don't think it plays to the strengths of the line, with some exceptions here or there.

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Seems like we've had lots of Marvel movie stuff in lieu of the comics recently. And with more and more films in the pipeline now, I wonder if that is indicative of what the future holds? I hope not. I'm just not that into the comic movie Minimates personally. I don't think it plays to the strengths of the line, with some exceptions here or there.

2015 has only A2 as far as Marvel movies go so there's that. TASM is currently on hold, a new X film comes out every 2 years and Marvel is said to continue with 2 films per year (one sequel and one new franchise). FF will probably tank (they told the Sue actress to NOT read any FF comics) as well. It's not perfect but I don't think every year will be like 2014, where we had 4 Marvel movies.

Edited by Kostisfire
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We knew last year that this was going to be a very movie-heavy year with three different studios offering up four Marvel films. Naturally that meant that the comic series would take a hit but there's still some good stuff on the horizon.

But when combined with the fiasco at Toys R Us where Wave 18 (and Tomb Raider) were never sold to a big region of the country, as a fan of comic minimates in Boston, it feels even worse, especially since we never got a good explanation on what the heck happened in regards to Wave 18 and Tomb Raider. Was it a mistake? Or was there a change in how Toys R Us views Marvel minimates and how they will sell them in the future?

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I'm pretty sure TRU was just wiping the Minimate slate clean overall. Since then TASM2 'mates have appeared and GotG has already shown up online so I'm not concerned about Marvel.

I wish I knew what the deal was with those series never making it to locations in the northeast. That's just baffling. DSTChuck suggested it had to do with the size of the store but I don't think that's the case here.

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Interesting thread. If I'm being honest, and I hate being negative about a line of toys that I've been collecting for eleven years and is the only line I've ever joined a forum for, I have to say that that my interest in minimates is currently at its lowest point since the line began. I am 90% a marvel comic based collector and the lack of any new characters this year or in the foreseeable future is not good in my book. I too fear that the line is going to head more and more in the movie direction. Even next year, in a "quiet" year for movies, unless I am mistaken we still have Antman and FF as well as A2. If they all get waves, then again I don't see many comic waves.

On a more positive note, I am delighted for Luke that he is getting an exclusive - hopefully the first of many - and am looking forward to the Big Bang Theory stuff (though no idea when they will appear) and have some interest in the Aliens line, so not all doom and gloom, just mostly lol.

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Interesting thread. If I'm being honest, and I hate being negative about a line of toys that I've been collecting for eleven years and is the only line I've ever joined a forum for, I have to say that that my interest in minimates is currently at its lowest point since the line began. I am 90% a marvel comic based collector and the lack of any new characters this year or in the foreseeable future is not good in my book. I too fear that the line is going to head more and more in the movie direction. Even next year, in a "quiet" year for movies, unless I am mistaken we still have Antman and FF as well as A2. If they all get waves, then again I don't see many comic waves.

On a more positive note, I am delighted for Luke that he is getting an exclusive - hopefully the first of many - and am looking forward to the Big Bang Theory stuff (though no idea when they will appear) and have some interest in the Aliens line, so not all doom and gloom, just mostly lol.

FF won't even be at this year's SDCC and Ant-Man doesn't really have a concrete script yet. Wright departed just when they were supposed to start filming so 2015 has only A2 (and maaaaaaybe FF which will probably tank).

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I am, of course, sad to see Battle Beasts as a line being shelved. I think that series 2 looked amazing, some of my favorite mini figures shown as of recently. And I really thought that a lot of the problems some people had in series 1 were fixed with series 2. It felt a bit closer to the spirit that the original Battle Beasts toyline had. Hopefully one day we will still see some form of release for these figures, there were too many designs that were really quite stellar not to ever be released.

However, the new TMNT line looks to keep me quite interested. I LOVED ninja turtles as a kid, and It will fill that anthropomorphic animal warrior void that the Battle Beasts have left. And with Ninja Turtles having a larger, more established fan base, I think it has more opportunities for it to be the success that DST is looking for. I got to see the turtles in person at C2E2, and I think they look fantastic. They still have a pose-able brick figure feel to them while also still looking like ninja turtles.

I am hoping that eventually they will be able to expand beyond just the new Nickelodeon show, and dive into other versions of the ninja turtles universe (classic cartoon, original comics, live action movies, etc...). I was just watching TMNT: Turtles Forever from the cartoon before the newest cgi cartoon, and in it they have their modern turtles, classic cartoon turtles as well as versions of issue 1 comic turtles, as well as still photo cameos of several different versions of the TMNT. It was quite neat to see. I would love to have a toyline that could capture that feel. Hopefully minimates might be able to be that toyline, but I don't know the limitations of the license DST has.

I am also really liking the look of the Pathfinder minimates, although admittedly more for the unique sculpted armor pieces that can be used for more Battle Beast customs down the line.

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I don't see how you can fault DST on the Star Trek license.

Plenty of good rants here. smile.png

I've read the rants, I just think the piles of clearanced figures make a better case. I wish it were different but I'm afraid Trek is a niche property now.

I think this will be a really interesting discussion at this time in 2015. It has been a really odd year for all of the reasons mentioned and I'm curious to see what things will look like after the newer properties get some product out and Marvel returns to a more normal mix of comic and movie.

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Hopefully the 50th anniversary will yield better results but how many more times can you relaunch a line with Kirk, Kirk, and more Kirk?

I guess we'll find out in a year or two when they do it again!

I'm happy with the ones we have now but I knew they blew it when they released all the captains together.

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Seems like we've had lots of Marvel movie stuff in lieu of the comics recently. And with more and more films in the pipeline now, I wonder if that is indicative of what the future holds? I hope not. I'm just not that into the comic movie Minimates personally. I don't think it plays to the strengths of the line, with some exceptions here or there.

Marvel's goal is to have 2 Marvel films out every year. One sequel and one New character film. So - that's at least 2 slots a year that DST will be considering doing movie minimates for. Plus whatever Sony and Fox decide to put out.

EDIT: Oops - beaten to it by Kostisfire.

As MisterPL stated - we knew going in that this would be a Movie-heavy year. Not every year is going to have a X-Men, SpiderMan, Captain America & Guardians film come out.

I *do* prefer comic based waves, but Cap2 & CotG are two of the best film waves i think we have ever seen. I'm confident that the next 12 months will see more comic releases.

Zach also mentioned that he didn't know if *possibly/not confirmed/don't hold me to it* Wave 60 and the next TRU wave would be ready to show at SDCC - so I would not worry about TRU at all. As mentioned, we've had two movie waves at TRU since the great clearance, *and* are possibly looking at another one being planned for Marvel already. I think TRU is not going away right now.

Edited by Nessex
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I haven't been this unexcited in Minimates in a very long time. Maybe never.

Marvel continues to push out series after series of movie stuff while classic versions of characters and never-released ones get looked over. The gaps in teams gets bigger and bigger while the variations on the same versions of "first tier" characters continues unabated. And even when updates occur, simple part additions to make get skipped and leave me wonder if I'll ever see a specific version again. Because goodness knows there'll be plenty more slight variations on Iron Man and Captain America coming.

Luke's exclusive is the only bright light on the way. Heck, I'm even excited for that X-Force set and that's the kind of thing I used to be "meh" about. But when all you get is movie deluge, even something you don't dig looks great by comparison.

Properties from film stuff looks good but even with Godzilla (a big favorite), it's hard not to feel jaded that the line will end prematurely like my other big favorite (Universal Monsters) did and leave empty slots for characters never made. Just seeing other UM products still being made by DST but no Mini's to correspond feels lousy.

Therm there are some new properties that may be great for others do nothing for me.

And lines I enjoyed, like Star Trek and Lost In Space go the way of the Dodo.

Distribution feels shaky between TRU and stores like Hashings not carrying stuff. Then again, should I care much since I feel so disappointed anyway?

Stuff like Mass Effect and Pathfinders sure look neat even though I don't play the games. But so did Tomb Raider and after getting into those, couldn't find the TRU exclusives to save my life.

Feeling pretty "blah", here. ? Wish I didn't but I do.

Edited by Mystery Man
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Zach also mentioned that he didn't know if *possibly/not confirmed/don't hold me to it* Wave 60 and the next TRU wave would be ready to show at SDCC - so I would not worry about TRU at all. As mentioned, we've had two movie waves at TRU since the great clearance, *and* are possibly looking at another one being planned for Marvel already. I think TRU is not going away right now.

This may be the wrong thread for it, but in response to the underlined I don't believe ASM2 was ever available online through TRU.com. While not as hard to find as Wave 18, ASM2 also did not show up in some stores and for GOTG we've only seen a sample pack up online. I'm not yet ready to say that there is no reason to worry. I have two stores near me and one has not had any minimate products that were released in 2014 available for sale at all, and the one that did only had a single case of ASM2 which hasn't been restocked.

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Whatever BHM says.

I'm just generally pissed of with all the BS & the 'super'-marketing ploys . Just fucking give me the product or fuck off before I do.

If DST ran a pub we'd all be sober at the end of the evening.

In leu of the recent drought. We'd have nothing to drink when we got there. But finally it's starting to turn.

As far as the marketing ploys... The pathfinder mates a pretty ridiculous. They said they would offer some them on online after gencon. I'll be pretty pissed if the "spend $100 get a free minimate" is offered for $5 after the fact.

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Pop this in this thread too as it seems relevant

Just thought I'd do some checking with my order history over at Lukes and this time last year I had ordered & received 8 new minimate products (not including sale stuff)

this year its just 3 products (not including sale stuff)

Not because of lack of funds but lack of product (that interests me anyway) & I've pretty much got everything since the beginning

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But DST is keeping the pub open. Better to keep business open and attract new customers then to cater to the local drunks who are gonna show up no matter what.

Been "drinking" since they first made Minimates.

This local drunk hasn't been and won't show up, regardless of how much I would *like* to drink if things don't look good.

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